From Just one Dance
by Orange Headphones
Summary: From one simple dance, Ryu and Jun are brought together. However, what Ren thinks may have some implications in that matter. Do they suceed?
1. That First Night

Things had changed somewhat since the Shaman Tournament: things were different. The group of friends led by Yoh during the tournament had somewhat dispersed to attempt to return to the lives they once led before they had met Yoh.

However, there was one who could not go back to his old life: Ryu. Despite being five years Yoh's elder, Ryu had learned immensely from Yoh's lifestyle and treating of others, wanting to become more like Yoh.

One day, Ryu, still training under Yoh, asked him, "Master Yoh, how are things with Anna?"

Yoh, somewhat cheerfully, somewhat fearfully, returned, "It's going to be this November."

"So, how does it feel?"

"I don't know. I know I'm looking forward to it, but nonetheless I'm worried; from then on, there's no turning back, and I might just be ready for it. You know?"

"Sadly Master Yoh, I do not. It is a feeling that I have longed for all my life; you are very lucky to experience it at such a young age. I only hope that one day I will be able to know it."

"Don't worry Ryu. It'll happen to you soon enough, but I wouldn't say I'm lucky quite yet. Don't forget who Anna is."

After that day's training was over, Ryu went to his room and lied down on his bed, small but comfortable. He was missing something in his life: love. He had longed for love all his life, yet hadn't received it. Occasionally, he had infatuations with girls on first sight, but he never had love; his overemotional antics always seemed to do him in. Despite that, Ryu was content to go without love and follow Yoh, as he knew who Yoh was; his way of life was what Ryu wanted.

At dawn the next morning, Ryu awoke as usual to find his list of daily tasks on the back of his door. Nothing was out of the ordinary in that regard; Anna always had a number of chores for Ryu to do, yet it wasn't nearly as bad as what Yoh had to do every day of the year without exception.

As Ryu set about his cleaning of the house, Anna approached him. As soon as Ryu noticed the presence of Anna, he quickly stood tall and paid her his respect. Despite her height and build, Anna could strike fear into the heart of anyone, as Ryu learned when he first observed her wrath. Soon she passed without saying a word, leaving Ryu with a reminder to be careful to do his work properly.

It was again late afternoon before Ryu was done with his work. The house continued to look spotless to most anyone while Anna continued to criticize the work, as was what she usually did to better one's performance. Yoh just stood back and quietly chuckled to himself, because he knew that there'd be hell to pay if anyone disobeyed Anna's commands, but he also knew that Ryu's workmanship was wonderful and near-perfect. Ah, but that was simply daily life for the man.

Soon, the cool spring and summer days faded into November as Yoh and Anna's wedding approached. On that blessed day, Ryu was one of the men of honor as a young Chinese woman by the name of Tao Jun was chosen to be one of Anna's bridesmaids despite them not seeing on even terms at first. After the ceremony, the celebration was finally starting to commence.

After Yoh and Anna's first dance, others were allowed to join in the festivities on the dance floor, where Ryu was the reigning champion in his own mind. The men of honor all were instructed to dance with the bridesmaids, as it was on the other hand. Throughout the first hour, Ryu continually danced with all of the bridesmaids except for Jun, who sat in her seat waiting for someone to dance with.

However, Ryu grew tired after his hour of dancing and left the building to go have a smoke. As he sat outside near the flowers, he talked to himself, musing over the day's events. He started, "Now what did I forget to do? I know there was something that I forgot to do, but I can't put my finger on it. What could it be?"

Seeing him leave the building, Jun decided to go and give Ryu a piece of her mind, as he was not only supposed to have danced with her, but he was supposed to have danced with her first, not fraternized and flirted with every other girl there not married. She approached him fuming, with anger and resentment in her eyes.

She started, "So, where were you?"

Ryu, still confused, responded, "Oh, hello Miss Jun, what are you doing out here?"

She continued to fume, "Don't play dumb with me, Dance Man. You know what you were doing."

"I do?"

"So I guess that dancing with your partner is overrated. Is that the case Pompadour?" she said almost in tears.

Quickly realizing what he had forgotten, Ryu started to say to Jun, "Oh, that's what I forgot. My sincerest apologies Miss Jun, I didn't mean to forget about you."

"So you think that words can make up for your stupidity?" beginning to sob.

Ryu simply could not stand to see a woman cry, especially a woman who he knew. He attempted to comfort her by placing his hands upon her shoulders, but she slapped them away, repeating her previous words.

"No, I do not. Please allow me to make up for my mistake."

Confused, Jun asked him, "What do you mean?"

"Let me show you."

Ryu discarded his cigarette and proceeded to take Jun's hands in his own and started to dance with her, yet it turned out that Jun couldn't quite dance near the quality that Ryu could dance to, so the two decided to sit down.

Chuckling, Ryu asked Jun, "It looks like you can't dance."

Defensively, Jun snapped, "I know that; why bring it up? Do you want to make me feel horrid?"

Soothingly, Ryu told her, "No, that's not it, I want to teach you how to dance; that's all."

Somewhat shocked, Jun told him, "Well, I guess that's fine."

"Excellent."

Ryu again grabbed her hands and placed them behind his back while he placed his hands upon her waist. Slowly, the two began to sway back and forth, though not in complete unity. Ryu told her, "Soon I'll teach you more dances, but now we must work a little on this one; come back tomorrow." A light breeze blew in the air as the two separated from each other. After the dance, Ryu approached her and softly kissed her.

As he turned to walk back inside, Ryu felt a tug on his jacket. Jun turned him around and kissed him in return. So those two decided to sit outside and watch the stars. Before long, Jun fell asleep on Ryu's arm, leaving Ryu smiling and in good spirits. He softly whispered to her, "Thank you Jun."

Before the night was through, however, Ryu did have to wake up Jun so she could get home. After all, Ryu knew that he could not take a woman home, especially considering who her brother was. However, there was no doubt that Ryu was enjoying himself; this was the first time that a woman decided to stay with him for longer than roughly ten minutes.

Softy, he nudged her so that she would awaken. Slowly she opened her bright blue eyes, realizing what was going on around her. The first thing she saw was Ryu and his crazy pompadour. She softly smiled to him and thanked him for waking her up, but also told him that she had to go for the night, as it was late. Her parting words to him were, "Thanks Ryu, I'll be back tomorrow for my next lesson."


	2. Ren's Thoughts

Things had changed somewhat since the Shaman Tournament: things were different. The group of friends led by Yoh during the tournament had somewhat dispersed to attempt to return to the lives they once led before they had met Yoh.

So the next day at the Asakura home, Ryu finished his chores early, hoping to see Jun again. Within a few minutes of waiting, she came into sight with a smile on her face, happy to see Ryu again.

For the next few hours, the two of them practiced and practiced. Jun, while still imperfectly, had managed to learn to dance slowly with Ryu, a dance Jun just seemed to like. Somehow Ryu had brought out a smile from Jun that she hadn't shown before, a smile that made his heart melt.

That night, as Jun walked through the door to her home, there happened to be a purple-haired, yellow-eyed shaman waiting for her with an angry stare on his face. The boy looked menacing when angry, even with family.

Upon seeing her brother, Jun's expression quickly changed to one of alarm. Not only did Ren not often sit and wait for someone, he never waited for her with such an angry look upon his face. This was almost as angry a look as when he fought with Horo-Horo.

Slowly he addressed his older sister, "And where have you been?" knowing full well that Jun was out with Ryu, having a good time.

"Well," she began, "I was out dancing."

"I know _that_. My question to you is where?"

"I was over at the Asakura residence."

"I see," he said while slamming the door behind him. He rushed to the aforementioned Asakura residence, ready to make sure Ryu knew exactly how to handle the sister of Tao Ren, the girl no one should mess around with. It wasn't because Jun was fragile and needed any protection. Instead, he went to make sure nothing like that ever happened; no one would ever hurt his sister if he had any say in the matter.

At that time Ryu was just finishing his preparations of dinner for Yoh and Anna. As always, the food was made with superior quality, but tonight it had a little something extra in it, something that made his dish seem twice as good. Right as he was about to call the newlyweds to inform them that dinner was ready, he felt the sharp point of cold steel at his back.

Ren's malicious voice powerfully told the words, "Outside, you."

With no choice but to comply, Ryu stepped outside without the prodding of Ren's kwan dao. Curious, but still with confidence, Ryu asked, "So what's this all about?"

Ren's eyes narrowed while looking at Ryu, "As if you don't know what you've been up to you fool."

Ryu, however, was confused by this statement, again prompting him to ask, "What's going on?"

Ren, starting to get annoyed with Ryu's lack of knowledge, told him with a hint of fury in his voice, "Keep your hands off of my sister. What do you think you've been doing with her?"

Ryu, with some worry of physical pain from Ren, responded, "I haven't done anything with her. All I did was teach her to dance. I promise you, this man does nothing to harm a lady, especially one as beautiful as your sister."

At the mention of such a word to describe his sister, the spike in Ren's hair shot up in fury. Nearly at the point of placing Bason into his kwan dao, he fiercely told Ryu, "Tell me this, what do you think of my sister?"

Ryu, oblivious to the reason of Ren's fury and its consequences, simply told him, "She's a wonderful girl who has the best of thoughts and intentions. I think that you're lucky to have such a girl as your sister. To have such a kind and caring girl as family must be a wonderful thing."

Ren had had enough. In his mind, Ryu had crossed the line tonight. He yelled, "Bason, into the kwan dao." Consequently, his weapon was consumed by Bason's spirit energy, creating a behemoth with his giant spirit control.

Ryu was forced to defend himself with the wooden sword he kept near him for protection. He too shouted, but instead of shouting in anger, he shouted to defend himself against Ren. Quickly Tokageroh was into Ryu's wooden sword with the help of the Yamata no Orochi.

The battle of two spirits in the form of giant spirit control was set to kick off before the two of them heard the voice of a woman that would strike fear into the heart of the bravest that walk this earth, the now Asakura Anna. Yelling at both of them simultaneously, she said, "What do you think you're doing up there?"

Instantaneously, both spirits left their mediums in fear of the itako. Ren, still filled with pride, told Ryu, "I'm too tired to expend my furyoku tonight. Next time, I'll be fired up enough to keep you away from MY SISTER!" The Chinese boy left the scene, furious with himself.

Anna diverted her attention to Ryu, inquiring why he hadn't informed her that dinner was ready while scolding him harshly for his mistake. Despite Ryu's apologies, Anna wouldn't calm down until Yoh came out to comfort her and defend his good friend Ryu.

All the while, Jun knew exactly what Ren had gone to do to Ryu. She sobbed constantly into her pillow while Ren was out. She knew that Ryu was indeed a kind man to her, while Ren had gone out in cold blood to keep him away from her. The only thing that she could hope for would be a rare sign of mercy from Ren. While she dearly loved her brother, she knew that his protectiveness of her would seriously hamper any chance she would have at a relationship.

From the room she was in, she heard a loud slam of the door and angry steps to another room. It seemed that Ren had returned, but Jun would not go to see if it was him. She was too worried with what may have happened to Ryu to go and confront her brother at this time; it all seemed pointless.

Soon she fell into a restless sleep, hoping for the best while still distraught with the thought of what Ren might have done to Ryu. She felt that she could no longer look upon him, not that he would kill Ryu, but because he would go so far as to injure him and keep him from her. Because of Ren, she never had a boyfriend, as no one would want to be with her.

However, when morning came, Jun could simply not just remain unknowing in what had happened the night before, she had to know what happened. She would not go to Ren, but would instead go to see Ryu himself, hoping that he was not hurt by Ren the night before. However, Ren knew where she was going, as he was awake and knew full well what his sister was up to.

Just before she reached the Asakura residence to check on Ryu, Ren swooped down upon her like a hawk. The powerful shaman gave a disapproving look to his sister, who he believed was making a terrible mistake by trying to associate with Ryu.

In a reprimanding tone, he said to her, "Now Jun, I don't believe that's something you should be doing. You're coming back home with me."

In resistance, Jun asked, "What did you do to him Ren?"

Instead of directly answering her question, Ren said to her, "I don't think that's something you should be concerned with. Instead of wasting your time with a fool like him, you should find yourself a better man for you."

Jun's eyes narrowed as she looked upon her brother. Intently she asked again, "What did you do to him?"

Realizing that his sister would not go quietly, Ren decided to use force to get his sister back home, where she belonged. "Whatever I did to that sorry fool is something that is of no concern to you. We're going home NOW!" Using Bason's giant spirit control, he grabbed Jun and took her back to the place that the two of them resided. "Maybe next time you'll listen to me."

Resorting to methods that had been used against him, Ren made sure that Jun wouldn't slip through his fingers a second time as he threw her in the dungeon-like basement, making sure that no one but he could enter.

From the cold stone floor, Jun again wept for what Ren had done to her. While it did not occur to Ren that he was crossing the line of love and protection to downright smothering of Jun's growth, Jun knew that he had gone too far and realized that something had to be done about Ren's behavior.


	3. Retaliation and Conclusion

Lee Bailong, Jun's sprit guardian in a zombie form, had to be brought in to help with this situation. Jun knew that if she didn't end up using a little force with Ren, he would end up completely crushing whatever hope she had. Luckily, he also happened to be in the same room Jun was, as he preferred to rest and practice in the dark lower levels.

When he realized that Jun was there, he asked her, "Jun, what are you doing down here? Shouldn't you be upstairs or outside enjoying the day?"

To respond to Bailong's confusion, Jun said, "I'm down here because of Ren."

Bailong's expression became quite confused at hearing a piece of information like this. He asked, "What do you mean you're down here because of him?"

Jun bluntly answered him, "I mean that my brother threw me down here today and decided to lock me in."

Looking to understand the circumstances Bailong asked, "But why would Ren throw you down here?"

"Well," she began, "it's probably because he doesn't trust me with Ryu. I don't exactly know either side of the argument, but I know that since he treats me so well, he must care."

"I see. I'm glad you've found somebody Jun."

"While I'm glad to hear something like that, but that's not my concern at the moment. My concern right now is to find a way out of here and make sure that Ren didn't do anything to hurt Ryu. Bailong, could you go to Ryu and see if he's feeling all right and make sure that Ren doesn't do anything to him."

"Of course Jun, I'll do anything you ask."

"Could you also tell him something from me?"

"What do you wish to tell him?"

"Please tell him 'Thank you' if you could."

Bailong simply smiled and said, "Most definitely, he'll get the message Jun."

Jun smiled and told Bailong, "Thank you. Good luck out there. Don't forget to be careful, especially of Ren in this situation."

Bailong simply nodded and, through his possession of a key, exited the door that locked Jun in the lower chambers. Making sure that Ren would not be suspicious, he locked the door as soon as he exited it and quickly went on his way to the Asakura home, knowing that Jun's hope for escape rested on his shoulders.

However, even Bailong himself couldn't make it pass Ren's iron curtain of surveillance. He and Bason yet again appeared roughly half a mile away from Bailong's destination.

Ren taunted the legend, "Did you think you could get past me?"

Bailong did nothing but clench his fists, readying for a fight with Ren and Bason, his mighty spirit.

Ren placed Bason into the kwan dao and again forced him into the giant spirit control, believing that Bailong was not worthy enough to feel the full fury of his rage and Bason's power.

Albeit that Bailong was a strong fighter, he was no match for Bason in such a mighty form. His fighting style, while mighty, did not look likely to fight a giant spirit form with such powerful furyoku.

While Bailong attempted to fight using his Dao Dan Do style of martial arts, Bason simply used brute force to attack him. However, Bailong did have a small advantage in his speed over Bason's giant form, allowing him to attack a few times.

He quickly executed a Rocket Kick, however doing little damage to the massive Bason, not even lifting him off of the ground. Then he quickly tried a Bomb Kick to knock Bason over, but again, it failed. Not even his nunchaku were able to do damage to Bason. Bason simply swatted at Bailong as though he were a fly and smacked him away into the distance.

Conveniently, Ryu happened to be passing by the path Bailong and Bason were fighting upon, having come from getting groceries for Anna. He took one look at the fight and then saw Bailong flying in his direction. Bracing himself, he took the force of Bailong flying into him and helped Bailong to his feet.

Bailong simply nodded to Ryu, silently thanking him for the assistance. Ryu, never one to sit out for long, decided to join the fight, putting Tokagero into his Bokuto and summoning his giant spirit control.

However, Bason was too much for the unorganized duo of fighters. When Bailong was attempting to make a critical strike, Ryu would end up in the way of the strike, causing Bailong's attack to affect Ryu, not Ren.

Ren, wishing to end this fight quickly, had Bason simply crush the two foes locked in battle with him. Seeing that they lay unconscious, Ren smiled and walked away, back to his home, awaiting the circumstances that would extenuate from this encounter.

All the while, Ryu and Bailong eventually awoke from their unconscious states and made their way to the Asakura home, hoping that there they could find a solution to the problem that faced them, Tao Ren, as well as deliver the groceries so that Anna would not be irate with the two of them. The problem that Ren posed to them was a fact that could not be overlooked, but the two of them both were united to free Jun from Ren's smothering grasp.

All the while, they got to talking about the events at hand. Bailong started the conversation by saying, "Ryu, I have a message for you."

Ryu, intrigued by a message from someone asked, "Who from?"

Bailong smiled and said, "Who else would send me out with a message?"

Ryu nodded, knowing it was Jun he referred to.

Bailong told him, "She says thank you."

Confused, Ryu asked him, "What exactly does she thank me for?"

"I don't know, but I do know that we must help her. If you didn't know, Ren has thrown her into a dungeon and locked her in to keep her away from you. While I don't understand Ren's motives, I do know that you are not the person who would ever harm a lady."

Upon receiving this information, Ryu's expression turned to one of alarm. If Ren had done something to Jun, he would never forgive him. Anyone who did that alarming sort of thing to a lady knew that Ryu's wrath would follow. "Then let's go and get her out of there."

Just before they left, a voice stopped them and said, "Hold on you two." The two warriors turned around and saw that the voice belonged to Asakura Anna. She continued, "Ren has a weak point. Bason knows that Ren has been slipping back into his former ways in his protective nature of Jun. Bason, as a result, is not so much involved in the fighting that Ren has started against you two. Know that he will not be able to invoke Bason's full potential. Now get out there and be back by morning Ryu. I'll have more for you to do."

They both nodded and set out to the Tao household, knowing something that Ren, in his blind anger, did not even notice. Perhaps they could use that one advantage to finally defeat Ren in his blind rage. They traveled on their way in determined silence, knowing they would have to be precise to have a chance to conquer the challenge that lay before them.

All the while, Ren waited for them, knowing they were coming. His confidence in the fight he would have with Bailong and Ryu gave him the perception that he was invincible and would always fight to protect Jun from anyone who could hurt her, no matter of intent in the matter. With all of this confidence, he didn't even notice Bason squirming next to him, mildly trying to protest the stance his master had taken on this matter.

At long last Bailong and Ryu entered the chamber that Ren was in, ironically the same that Ren had finally defeated his father, Tao En, in for the first time. Ren stood waiting with Bason in his giant spirit control. Bailong took his fighting stance while Ryu put Tokagero into the wooden sword, creating his giant spirit control, knowing that they could win the fight if they acted perfectly.

Using the power of Dao Dan Do and the Yamata no Orochi, Bailong and Ryu knew they had to use each other's strengths to find a way to exploit the weakness of Bason. Quickly Ryu attacked from the front while Bailong assaulted from behind. Due to this confusion, Ren's spirit control with Bason slowly had begun to fade. Ren, oblivious to this slow weakening of his spirit's power along with its lack of want to comply, demanded Bason deliver his full force attack upon Bailong, as he knew the limitations of his sister's medium. Bason was forced to comply with this and he knocked Bailong down into the dungeon area he was so used to, leaving him to fight Ryu one on one.

As Bailong fell into the dungeon he startled Jun, who had been waiting for a sense of escape from this prison. Bailong knew he was too damaged at the moment to fight. However, he did know that he could still move around. He quickly spotted Jun. Then he said, "Jun, I managed to talk to Ryu and let him know your message, but we ran into your brother. After getting away, I told him what was going on, so we both came out here after he found out how Ren has been treating you. I just hope we've done enough to be able to get you out of here."

Jun simply smiled, knowing that she had a way out of this prison now. She asked Bailong to carry her out of the dungeon so she could see what was happening to Ryu. Bailong simply nodded and complied with what Jun had decided that the two of them would do.

All the while, Ryu and Ren faced each other, knowing that the magnitude of this fight would impact both of them severely. Before any more action occurred, Ryu yelled at Ren, "Why did you do this to your sister? No real brother would do this." Despite seeming to make a blundering mistake by making Ren angry, he knew that Ren's anger would use up his furyoku faster than it would have dissipated had he instead been calm. Coupled with Bason's lack of willingness to fight this time, this was a recipe for success, a success that Ryu badly yearned for.

Ren became enraged with Ryu over this method of insult and blindly ordered Bason to attack Ryu with his most powerful attack. However, in this moment of blind rage, Ren did not foresee that Bason's attack was slower than usual, giving Ryu the time he needed to escape from the blow that had been aimed at him. Ren instead was furious at Bason for missing the attack.

In the interim time, Ryu charged at Bason and used his spirit's animated form to attack Bason with each of its eight heads. Each grabbed a specific point: one attacking each arm and leg, while one grabbed its kwan dao, another subdued his head by way of the neck, and the last two attacked the body of Bason. With this kind of an attack, Ryu was able to break Ren's spirit control for the first time. Due to the circumstances and his anger, Ren was unable to conjure up a spirit control powerful enough to match Ryu's current spirit control. In knowledge of this, he resigned his fight with Ryu.

After a loss at the hands of what he perceived to be a lesser shaman than he, Ren's mind returned to the time when he had first lost to Asakura Yoh. Back then he had been an angry youth bent on the concept of destruction, the only thing he could call his own, but now he saw that Ryu, albeit having lesser furyoku than Ren, could defeat him due to his strategy. Perhaps Ryu had more potential than Ren had once perceived him to have.

After this conflict had been settled, Jun rushed out to see how Ryu was doing and quickly embraced the man who had fought so hard for her freedom. Ren was shocked by this turn of events, as it had always been to him that Jun had run, never to anybody else. In his shock, he asked Ryu, "Why did you come here?"

Ryu simply smiled and said, "Well, I came here to save your sister from the prison she was in. It was what I felt I should do for such a lovely lady."

Ren acknowledged what he figured Ryu would say but couldn't help being a bit surprised by the fact that Ryu thought that he should do it, not that he had to do it out of guilt. Still curious, he asked, "Why exactly did you feel you should do this for Jun?"

Ryu again grinned and said, "I simply came because I care deeply for your sister, though I'm sure that you already knew that."

Ryu was confident in his response. Therefore Ren trusted in what he had to say (for once). He said, "I see now how devoted you are to my sister, coming so far and against so many odds to try to save her, not to mention the success you had. Even when Bailong was unable to fight with you, you would not back down. I'm glad she has chosen someone as devoted as you. If it means anything, I give my blessing to the two of you."

Jun softly smiled to her brother as Ryu nodded in acknowledgement of the statement that he had made, relenting of the violence that had occurred.

"However," he added, "if I find out that you've done something to my sister, I'll never forgive you and you'll suffer worse than you did this time. I won't go easy on you."

The other two there just smiled and nodded, knowing they could pursue what they wanted together. Indeed, they were happy together and even Ren couldn't avoid realizing something like that. It was one of those things that brought out the best in the two of them.

As time passed, Ryu and Jun grew closer together and eventually underwent the same ceremony that they themselves had grown together at. A few situations similar to the ones that Ryu and Jun had first undergone occurred there: ironically between an Ainu boy and a Japanese girl who another Chinese boy also liked. All was well between the two of them, very well indeed.


End file.
